All the way to Reno
by Crimson2
Summary: I'm not sure where this fic's going, but there we go, it's about the lives of various members of the game after the end of the game. Review it? Pleeeeease? *just added third chapter* hmm looks like there may be a hint of a storyline ;)
1. Turkish Delight

**All the way to Reno**  
By Crimson  
*****

**_CHAPTER 1 - Turkish Delight_**

* * *

_"Welcome to our place," said Tifa warmly, opening the door to reveal a warm, homely cottage. "Reno's in the kitchen, he should be out in a while. Just make yourselves comfy in there." Rude and Elena, the happy couple, went into the den and sat down on the couch in front of the log fire.   
"Why can't our place be like this, Rude?" asked Elena. "Tifa and Reno have really made this house into a home."   
Just then, Reno and Tifa came in, arms around each others' waists, brandishing a tray of drinks.   
"Help yourselves..."_

Reno awoke with a start, breaking out into a cold sweat and sitting bolt upright in bed. That dream was wrong, it was all wrong. Why was he dreaming of Tifa? He hadn't seen her for so long, he'd almost forgotten she existed. Why, when he had Elena? Wait, he... had... he had Elena, right? He turned to look next to him. Yes, she was there. Sleeping peacefully as ever, daring Reno to go back to sleep, to dream of further scandal. He ran his finger gently down the length of her back, before turning onto his shoulder and drifting off again. Still, the thought process went on... her... with Rude? Reno was unsure whether he was jealous or mad, the memory of that couple was still too recent. 

* * *

Tifa yawned, leaning against the bar for support. It was all she had left now really, the bar, and all its customers. She hadn't kept in touch with Cloud. She'd stayed with him up until the point where he went insane, and just wouldn't stop jabbering about Aeris. That's when she decided enough was enough. After all, '7th Heaven' had nearly been closed down, and that was enough for her; the bar was hers alone, but Cloud had always thought of himself as Aeris's. At first, Tifa'd been disgusted at that thought, but slowly it grew and grew until one night she just left Cloud. She'd heard he'd gone to the City of the Ancients to lament for Aeris. She'd never seen him since that night. 

'What'll it be' was her motto now, her life's philosophy, her meaning. She'd sip at her own cocktails now and again, when the memories got too much. Recently, she'd been drinking more and more of them. She was reminded of her days in Nibelheim: the older girls there used to drink and drink, and boy did they end up deranged. Tifa stared at the vodka mix in her hand, and suddenly threw it to one side, breaking the glass, and ran downstairs, nearly in tears. 

She sat down on the table there, swinging her legs, thinking. A solitary tear dripped to the floor, but she wiped her eyes and no others came. She missed her old life. The adventure, the adrenaline... she could almost taste it. Yet here she was, working as nothing more than a barmaid. Why had she ended her adventure the way she'd begun it? Why wasn't she out, fighting dragons and saving the world? Her thoughts were shattered by footsteps on the stairs. 

"Tifa? You okay?"   
Great, it was Barret. Completely the last thing she needed.   
"Oh, I'll be alright. D'ya need me upstairs?" Tifa sniffed aside any stray tears that were left and turned to face Barret.   
"Kind of. But there's someone... someone you won't want to see." 

Tifa barged past Barret, running up the stairs. Was it... could it be? She'd never really gotten over Cloud, although she knew she could never love him. She burst through the door that led out into the bar and proceeded to stare, almost desperately, at each face in turn. No, not Cloud. Someone else was there, in the bar. Two people who she recognised, who she had hoped she'd never see again. 

"Reno, Elena, how are you?" She couldn't really avoid talking to them, they were coming straight towards her.   
"Tifa! Thought we might find you here." Elena. "It was Reno's idea, and a good one too: try to settle the score with all you guys. We thought maybe we could have a chat, over a drink...?"   
"Sure, but I've gotta serve these guys first." 

Walking over to her position behind the bar, Tifa reeled at the all-too-recent memory of Reno's hand wrapped around Elena's slender waist. She could do so much better than that! But another memory: the way Reno'd scanned her up and down, like she was a car, feeling her with his eyes. She shuddered, but turned her back on the thought, and got on with serving her cocktails. She drank none this time; she wanted to be sober in case she felt the need to beat up Reno. At least in her break from adventure, she hadn't neglected her kickboxing. She was glad of the punchbag downstairs. She'd claimed ownership, though it was actually Barret's. He'd given in, somewhat easily, seeing the state she was in. She needed to take stress out on something, and he didn't intend for it to be him. 

In fact, the viewpoint of Barret, standing in the corner by the door, was that Tifa's anger would tonight be taken out on a certain Turk who dared to come into her private sanctuary. Tifa was in the same mind. 

After about half an hour, Tifa strode over to Elena and Reno's table. 

"Do you want something to drink or are you just going to sit there?" she said in an irritated voice. The two turks looked startled. "Sorry, sorry, it's been a hectic night," said Tifa by way of an apology. "I'll go and get you guys some beer." Reno smiled gratefully. 

"What's up with her?" said Elena, concerned.   
"Hectic night," replied Reno, unconcerned. 

"Here," said Tifa, coming back with a tray of drinks. For a second, Reno was silent: this reminded him of the dream. Yet he accepted the drink with a smile.   
"Pull up a stool," he offered.   
"No, no, I've got to serve all these customers," said Tifa, waving her hand around to illustrate her point. "I'll be with you when it's quitened down a little."   
"Okay then." 

But they hadn't got the hint. Three hours later and they were still sitting there, laughing over some recent memory. Tifa shuddered at the thought of Elena going home with Reno. She couldn't really avoid them anymore though, almost everyone else had left the bar, except a couple of regulars and Barret, still standing in the corner glaring at Reno. Every so often he'd glance back, but the message wasn't getting across. Barret strode over to Tifa. 

"You want me to kick em out? They're not gonna leave otherwise."   
Tifa took a deep gulp of air.   
"No, no, I said I'd talk to them, it'll probably get them outta the bar sooner," she replied. "After all, we don't wanna end up in trouble with the Turks again."   
"You sure?" Barret looked concerned but Tifa was determined.   
"Yeah, I can do this." She strode over. 

"So, what you guys up to these days?" Tifa queried, dragging a stool up to their table.   
"Not much," replied Elena. "You know, fighting crime and all that, but, to be honest, it's not the same without AVALANCHE."   
"You mean that?"   
"Yeah... not really in a good way..."   
"But not in a bad way either," finished Reno. They giggled. 

"How about you, anyway?" Elena turned the conversation around. "What happened with Cloud?" 

Cloud. That name again. Could Elena see her thoughts? Was she doing this to torment her? She heard Barret clear his throat in the background. No, she can't know. Tifa scolded herself, she was getting jumpy.   
"It just kinda..." she struggled for the words. "Faded out."   
"I know what you mean, I've been in relationships like that," replied Elena.   
"Rude," Reno muttered under his breath. Elena glared at him.   
"So how's the bar running?" he asked, changing the subject and ignoring Elena's piercing stare.   
"Alright. It always gets busy on Friday nights, you saw some of the people who come in here. The Wall Market bunch mostly."   
"Not the nicest of crowds," observed Elena.   
"But they give me money," replied Tifa. "I've tried other ways, but I belong here."   
The Turks grunted in agreement. 

"If you don't mind..." Tifa said. "I don't mean to be rude, but it's past closing time, and I need to sleep before the morning shift."   
"Sure, sure, we were about to go anyway," said Reno. Elena glared again.   
"We should do this again sometime," she said, to make up for Reno's rudeness. Both Tifa's and Reno's eyes grew wide.   
"Sh-sure, why not?" Tifa stammered.   
"I'll call the bar," announced Elena. "Come on Reno." 

They left. 

* * *

A/N: Yeah, this is a strange fic. I dunno how it's gonna turn out, but I came up with the title and thought I should write a fic to go with it! Please review! (Not sure if there's another chapter coming, but I called this 'chapter 1' just in case.) Luv crimson.xx ~forever howling at the moon~ 


	2. Rememberance

All the way to Reno  
By Crimson  
*****

* * *

**_CHAPTER 2: Rememberance_**

Tifa smiled gratefully at Barret. He strode over.   
"So the shit's left the building then."   
"At least it got out before it could hit the fan."   
The barmaid walked steadily over to the bar and mixed herself a drink. 

"I wasn't prepared for that," she admitted. "And apparently, we're meeting up again."   
Barret couldn't contain his surprise.   
"#@*!%!" he exclaimed. "Tifa! You sure? You can't...!"   
"I can handle it, Barret," she sighed. "I need to start looking out for myself again. I miss that." She stared into her glass, watching the olive she'd added swirl pointlessly round and round. "I need to get over Cloud, to confront my past. I'm beginning to think that this is the only way." 

Barret looked dubious, but accepted Tifa's answer. He'd spent too long protecting her already. This wasn't the Tifa he used to know... but it looked like she might transform herself back into the bubbly, optimistic girl she'd once been. 

"DAD?!?!" came a cry from down the stairs. Marlene.   
Barret took another look at Tifa. In another couple of years... Marlene would be a teenager, telling Barret to leave her alone, just like Tifa. He didn't like to think of himself as vulnerable, but when it came to girls, he was at a loose end. He wished Myrna was still around. 

"Coming, Marlene!" he called back. "You okay up here, Tif?"   
"I'll live." 

She seemed distant, probably remembering Cloud. Remembering all the times Tifa had cried on his shoulder, Barret realised that if he ever met Cloud again, he'd hate him more than he liked him, hate him for just leaving Tifa, for leaving her in such a state. He took a last, sympathising look at the barmaid before heading downstairs. He didn't have many years left when he could coddle Marlene, and he was determined to make the most of them. 

Watching Barret leave, Tifa muttered to herself.   
"Cloud. Reno. Elena." 

She repeated it, over and over. It wasn't doing her any good, but she knew she had to come to terms with their existance. Not much had really changed since their year or so together, not like she'd hoped it would. She'd heard rumors, rumors of all her friends, their current locations, how they were getting on. Apparently, Cid had been fixing up the rocket he'd loved, so he could fly it again soon. And Yuffie, well, she was still out thieving materia for Wutai. Vincent even dropped in to see her now and again, whenever he was in Midgar. But she'd never heard anything about Cloud since he left to mourn for Aeris. Part of her hoped he was still alive somewhere, thinking of her. But part of her hoped he was out of her life forever. 

***** 

_"Never leave me, Reno. Always be here for me, like we promised, all those years ago..."   
"Tifa, I'll never leave you..."_

Dreams, just dreams. But no matter how hard he thought like that, memories of them kept invading Reno's head. Elena had been glad that the three of them had met up, Reno had been glad by the end that it was all over, so he could concentrate on never seeing Tifa again, never again remembering the shards of dreams that hit him like bullets at midnight. But Elena hadn't been thinking like that. The truth was, they both wanted something different from life, but Elena was happy to control Reno until the point when he could take no more. So, they were meeting up again. More time between the visits for Reno's nightmares. That was what he called them when he woke up, but what scared him the most was that during the dream, he was enjoying it. Reno had never felt that way about anyone. No, no, he didn't like her. Not like that. But he'd been telling himself that so many times recently, it'd lost all meaning. 

"Reeeno!" came a voice, shattering his dreams.   
"Yo," he grunted. Elena came bouncing in.   
"We're meeting Tifa again today. Have a shower, get yourself dressed, you look like you slept in dog shit."   
"I love you too." But his voice lacked the humor the statement deserved. Elena looked disapprovingly at him.   
"Meet me in the lobby in half an hour," she commanded him. "And have a shave." The door slammed behind her.   
"Far as I'm concerned, Rude can have her back," he muttered to himself. "What?"   
Did he really just say that?!? Angrily, he kicked the wall.   
Dreams, dreams, dreams...

* * *

So, you like? Huh? Huh? I still have no idea where this fic's going, but I got bored and stuck this chapter on amyway. So... is it working? Please tell me... ˆ•ˆ 


	3. Slumbags

All the way to Reno  
By Crimson  
*****

* * *

**_CHAPTER 3: Slum-bags_**

Reno tried to dress himself up, in fact he always tried to do what Elena told him; it was the only way to stay on her good side. Even so, everything he'd been doing lately had been wrong, according to her. He was anticipating another entire day of public scolding, and he wasn't far wrong. How could she expect him to do everything she'd just asked in half an hour? Reno was a laid back guy, and that just wasn't like him. All the same, he did the best he could. After waiting by the elevator for five minutes and getting no luck, he decided to jog down the stairs. By the time he reached the lobby, he was exhausted. 

"Ten minutes late," Elena tutted. "And is it me or do you look worse now?"   
Reno tried to shrug the insults aside: he was used to them.   
"At least I'm here, babe," he replied casually. "C'mon, let's go. Taxi!"   
A car pulled up, and he shunted Elena in.   
"Where we going?"   
Elena looked at him disapprovingly.   
"To the edge of Sector 7, please."   
"You sure, ma'am?"   
"Sure." 

Elena sat back, but Reno looked confused.   
"Why to the edge? Why not straight to the bar?"   
"Don't you know anything?" she complained. "It's a rough neighbourhood. Turning up in a taxi won't exactly make us popular with the locals. Everyone in Sector 7 is a slum-bag. Everyone." 

Reno turned to look out of the window. Great, so Elena didn't even like Tifa. Why were they meeting up? He had to admit, he was stumped when it came to understanding how Elena's mind worked. He supposed Elena thought she was doing the polite thing by feigning interest in people she'd never liked, but he knew Tifa was too smart to fall for it. She was probably suspecting a trick. Even Reno himself had begun to suspect the same thing lately. Elena had been acting strangely… enough for Reno to notice, which was a lot. He was getting bored of feigning interest in Elena, as well. One of these days, he'd break away… 

***** 

"Shit, shit, shit," muttered Tifa as a bottle flew from the side of the bar and shattered on the floor. She grabbed the dustpan to sweep it away, but she was shaking too much for it to be useful. She tried to relax, but ended up sitting with her back to the bar and the rest of the world, quivering. 

Barret, having heard the noise, ran up to her and grabbed her shoulder.   
"Tif, you okay?"   
She was staring into the distance, her eyes wide, still shaking.   
"Shit. MARLENE," he yelled. "FETCH SOME WATER!"   
As the young girl complied, Barret kept talking to Tifa.   
"C'mon, girl, c'mon. You're okay. There's no customers here yet, just relax, try to calm down."   
Marlene appeared with the water.   
"We're closed, right?"   
She took the hint, and switched the sign on the door to deter any morning drinkers.   
"But dad?"   
Barret looked at her.   
"Yeh?"   
"Reno and Elena are coming here today. We can't stay closed." 

At the mention of the Turks, Tifa's body tensed. Barret finally grasped what was wrong.   
"It don't matter, Marlene. You wanna be a big girl and mix the drinks for them?"   
"I can do that!" she said proudly.   
"Okay then, go downstairs and do your hair all nicely," he encouraged, still shaking Tifa. Her eyes suddenly came into focus, and she stared at the disappearing head of Marlene. 

"B-Barret?"   
"I'm here, it's okay." Tifa's body went limp.   
"Are they coming here? I don't know what happened, a bottle fell and then I was down here, I couldn't move, all I could see was Cloud, and the Turks were behind him, and they shot him, and…" Barret couldn't make out any more, she was sobbing too much. "Oh Barret, it was awful." She collapsed against him.   
"Shh, Tif, it's okay. It wasn't real. It was just…" 

But he didn't know what it was. Not a dream, not even a nightmare; maybe just a hallucination. But whatever it was, it had almost killed Tifa, and he wasn't going to let that happen again. 

"Don't worry, Tif," he told her. "Marlene's going to sort out the drinks today, okay? You go downstairs and lie down."   
She sniffed, and looked up at him.   
"Okay."   
She stood up, but her knees buckled. Barret threw out an arm, and caught her just in time.   
"I'll carry you." 

She nodded in compliance, and allowed herself to be lifted up and taken downstairs. Barret laid her on her bed.   
"You get some sleep." 

Marlene was doing her hair in the mirror, and her reflection smiled at Tifa. She tried her hardest to smile back, but the exertion was too much. Closing her eyes, she instantly fell into a deep sleep. 

"C'mon, 'Lene," whispered Barret. "We've got a bar to run." 


End file.
